Videssence Puts New Light on RMU TV

March 27, 2009

Studio productions at Robert Morris University's Academic Media Center are enhanced by the installation of a new Videssence lighting system.

PITTSBURGHStifling studio temperatures, soaring electric bills and an antiquated lighting grid were all big factors in re-evaluating the lighting system for a large television studio here at Robert Morris University (RMU).

Students in the Media Arts and Communication departments at RMU have been producing live award-winning television programs in the studio facility for the past 20 years. These have included news and entertainment programs, sports broadcasts and public affairs shows. The studio is also used by the faculty in connection with several television production courses.

After deciding to renovate the studio facility's lighting system, Gary Thomas, national sales manager at Videssence and Larry McIIhattan from Azcar Digital Products stepped in to help us get 21st century lighting technology into our studio facility, As a result, students and faculty are both reaping the benefits from the installation of Videssence's Power Key Series package, along with a Vista 10 SMX lighting control console that handles 12 channels.

SYSTEM IS BOTH FLEXIBILE AND UPGRADABLE

In planning for the new lighting system, we knew that we had to have a system that would immediately be flexible enough to accommodate a news set, a blue screen area, interview set and a sports set. And we knew too that that we wanted to install equipment from a manufacturer that could provide an easy upgrade path for accommodating additional lighting instruments as future production needs changed and grew.

The plan that Videssence brought to us was both flexible and efficient. The Academic Media Center selected a superior lighting system that is being used in many progressive television and production studios.

The actual installation and positioning of the fixtures was performed by Videssence, with assistance from RMU's Joseph Hale and Raymond Zaparoni. The patented Power Key fixtures used in the studio are being controlled with phase control dimming—no more "all, or nothing at all" circuit breaker switches for us. The Vid-essence two-lamp fluorescent fixtures that we're using are extreme-ly versatile and can cover just about every studio application. And the Videssence system lets us change the instrument's beam spread both quickly and safely.

We are extremely pleased that our students now have access to state-of-the-art lighting equipment along with our full complement of studio production equipment. This all serves to enhance the overall quality of our productions as seen throughout the community on Comcast VOD.

Michael A. DiLauro is the director of the Academic Media Center at Robert Morris University. He may be contacted atdilauro@rmu.edu.

For additional information, contact Videssence at 626-579-0943 or visitwww.videssence.tv.